I recently came across this fantastic TEDx talk from June 2014 by Mac Barnett, an award-winning author of children’s books. Somehow, he managed to share some behind-the-scenes secrets for crafting experiences without ruining what makes those experiences feel so amazing.

Most grown-ups can learn to play a new game without too much difficulty, and when they play, losing is understood to be a perfectly expected occurrence. That is, if someone loses, it is entirely possible that person still had fun playing the game.

When I start designing a game, I tend to try to avoid adding random elements. That is, I don’t want luck to enter into the course of events so that they can be repeatable. One thing follows from another, always. I like my game rules to be the physics of my world. I want the . . . → Read More: Making Non-Random Games